Oil and gas players should keep the operating costs in check and continue to remain vigilant as the industry outlook remains uncertain.

Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) president and chief executive officer Tan Sri Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin said it is imperative to continue to be vigilant in maintaining cost discipline and drive for efficiency.

“There is a concern here that with the oil price recovery, costs are showing signs of increasing at a worrying rate. This is likely being driven by a premature exuberance among industry players.

“If we do not keep these escalating costs in check, the industry as a whole runs the risk of negating the value we have gained from intensive cost-efficiency efforts over the last three years,” he said during his address at the Offshore Technology Conference 2018 (OTCAsia 2018).

Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) is set to increase its capital expenditure for the first time in three years on the back of the recovery in oil prices and its ongoing cost-efficiency drive that boosted profit in 2017 to a level not seen since 2013.

Petronas will spend “around RM55 billion” this year on capex with a higher commitment to upstream development. The national oil firm spent RM44.5 billion on capex in 2017 — down 11.7% from 2016 — with a focus on the downstream sector.

“We are in a stronger position to execute our long-term growth strategy,” president and CEO Tan Sri Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin — better known as Wan Zul — told reporters at the group’s 2017 results briefing last week.

Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) says it has a three-pronged strategy this year which will help it focus on growth.

Petronas president and group chief executive officer Tan Sri Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin said the national oil and gas firm wants to expand its core business as well as diversify but is mindful of its cash position.

“One, we are still looking at our cash. Secondly, we want to expand our core business. We are a fully integrated company and I believe in this business model.

“We are looking at ways to extend the value chain of our business,” Wan Zulkiflee was quoted as saying in an interview at the World Economic Forum here.

“Thirdly, we are looking into things that are new to Petronas. For example, we are looking at the potential of being involved in renewables such as solar and other new energies,” he said.

He said a congruence of many events, particularly the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and non-Opec voluntary production cuts, has helped prop up oil prices.

“We also see some supply disruption in Libya. The demand side is looking good globally and we expect this to continue in the next few years.”

Even as oil prices have improved in recent months, national oil company Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) is maintaining a cautious outlook this year and warns against slipping into complacency.

Its president and group chief executive officer Tan Sri Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin said Petronas has formulated its budget based on the assumption of oil price of below US$60 (RM236) per barrel.

“Some consultants have forecast higher than that, but then they change their forecasts every three months. Petronas cannot do that. We have to be more prudent,” he told editors at a briefing ahead of the group’s full-year results announcement, here, recently.

THERE are certainly many things on his plate but Petronas president and group chief executive officer Tan Sri Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin certainly looks more confident in guiding the oil giant at least in the next three years.

When he took over in April 2015, the company was beset with an oil price slide. His immediate task was to tide over the trying times and to stay profitable.

The crude oil prices have since recovered and improved further last year on the back of demand driven by India and China.

But that does not mean Petronas is losing its focus to manage cost and remain prudent while continuing to invest for the future.

There should not be the overexuberance that seems to be creeping back in some other oil and gas players.

“We must continue to stay the course,” the chemical engineer by training told a group of editors last week.

Petronas could venture into solar, wind or other new energy sources, Wan Zulkiflee said, adding that the matter was in the evaluation stage.

“We are evaluating on what type of new energies are suitable for us and where we can make money. It is not a matter of just being involved in RE, or for the sake of following others who are already involved.

When Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin took over as CEO of Malaysian state energy firm Petronas in April 2015, the price of a barrel of Brent crude oil had tumbled to around $55, half the level of the previous year.

Over the following months prices fell further, forcing Wan Zul, as he is better known, to lop $12 billion from costs and cut thousands of jobs for the first time at Petronas – a major contributor to Malaysia’s budget and one of the country’s biggest employers.

As he enters the final year of his three-year contract, he says Petronas is leaner and better placed to handle a volatile oil market, focusing on costs, high-margin businesses and possibly new growth streams such as renewables.